Schools Roundup: Sing Yin Secondary, St. Louis Priory, Taft School

Hong Kong’s Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sing, visited Sing Yin Secondary School in Kwun Tong (pictured) to learn about its energy-saving features, including a lift regeneration system, occupancy sensor auto-controls for air-conditioning units and lighting, a building energy management system, an LED accent lighting system, as well as solar photovoltaic panels for electricity generation.

The school also boasts a landscaped garden and bamboo forest on its rooftop, which helps lower indoor temperatures by insulating the building from heat.

The Hong Kong government planned the campus of Sing Yin Secondary School in 2008 as a demonstration building to showcase energy efficiency with an educational purpose. The energy-saving facilities installed on the campus can deliver energy savings of almost 30 percent annually.

Saint Louis Priory School in Creve Coeur, Mo., installed 521 solar panels on five buildings including the junior school, the library, the gymnasium, the high school and the monastery, according to STL Today. Saint Louis Priory is leasing the panels from Brightergy Solar Solutions. During the projected 20-year life of the system, Priory will pay $240,000 in rental costs, but save $458,747 in energy costs, for a net savings of $218,747. The school will sell excess power back to the grid.

Priory also renovated its building automation systems at the high school, gym, junior school and monastery to allow high-tech control of lighting and mechanical equipment.

Brightergy is installing solar modules at other St. Louis-area schools including: the Parkway School District, the Kirkwood School District, St. Joseph’s Academy in Frontenac and the Forsyth School in St. Louis. All of Brightergy’s school clients are receiving rebates from utility company Ameren.

Energy management services firm World Energy Solutions helped the Taft School procure more than 13 million kWh of electricity from renewable sources for its Watertown, Conn., campus. The resulting 36-month contract is expected to reduce the school’s electricity costs by over $300,000. Through a series of online auctions run on the World Energy Exchange, the Taft School was able to test various terms and products. The competitive event attracted numerous suppliers, yielding a winning price more than $.02/kWh less than its prior contract. Delivery under the new contract terms began January 26.